The Dodo Archive

Cops Save Dog That Survived 60 Hours Stuck Up To His Neck In Mud

A 13-year-old Australian Shepherd is said to be doing well after surviving through an unimaginable ordeal -- thanks, in no small part, to the loyalty of his owner and the dedication of two Pennsylvania police officers.

Sheila Shorr tells CBS Philly that when her dog Pluto failed to come home one day last week, she knew something must have been terribly wrong. Instead of simply hoping that he would return, Shorr spent nearly three days scouring the area around her home in Chester County before she finally discovered him in the most dire of predicaments.

Pluto had gotten stuck in a deep mud pit along a nearby creek, his muzzle just barely cresting the dirty water that pooled around him. Shorr believes he had been there the entire time, clinging to life for about sixty hours.

Unable to lift him out herself, the desperate pet-owner reached out to the police for help.

Being dispatched to save a dog stuck in mud might have made some emergency responders roll their eyes, but when Officers Mike Kushner and Michael Martin arrived on the scene, the full extent of the animal's situation hit home.

"I just pictured my own dog and what I would want somebody to do and that's to go get it," says Kushner.

The two officers leapt into action, though it was still a struggle for them to extricate the dog from the thick mud. Eventually, using a wooden plank, they were able to finally get Pluto out.

Even once freed, it still wasn't clear that the dog was going to survive -- but Shorr says that after being treated at a local veterinary clinic, Pluto is home and doing well, saying to police that "we feel very fortunate indeed that you are there and always quick to respond, skilled and compassionate."

"This was a dream come true on top of a dream come true to find him and have help come right away," she says.